Big East battle pits Orange against desperate Pirates

Newark, NJ (Sports Network) - The sixth-ranked Syracuse Orange hope to keep
pace in the top-heavy Big East, as they take on the Seton Hall Pirates in
conference action from the Prudential Center on Saturday.

The Orange did themselves no favors with Wednesday's 66-58 loss at
Connecticut. With the setback, Jim Boeheim's squad is now 8-3 in conference
play, good for second place behind Georgetown and tied with Marquette, while
sitting just a half game ahead of Louisville, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. The
loss to the Huskies was the third in the last five games for Syracuse, which
is just 4-3 in true road games this season.

Kevin Willard's Pirates have certainly had their ups and downs this season,
with the result being a 13-12 overall record. Wins have been few and far
between in conference play though, with Seton Hall sitting one game out of the
conference cellar with a mere 2-10 record. The Pirates enter this contest with
an ugly six-game losing streak in tow, including a 57-55 loss at Rutgers on
Tuesday.

This marks the 63rd all-time meeting between these two teams, with Syracuse
holding a huge 46-16 all-time advantage. The Orange have won six of the last
seven meetings.

Sophomore Michael Carter-Williams led the way with 15 points, while James
Southerland added 14, but it wasn't enough in a tough loss to UConn this week.
Syracuse also got 10 points from C.J. Fair, but the team as a whole struggled
to find its range, converting just 35.4 percent from the floor, weighed down
by a 17.4 percent effort from behind the arc (4-of-23).

Offense has been much easier to come by on the year for Syracuse, which is
averaging 74.8 ppg on .448 shooting. Scoring depth comes in the form of four
players in double figures, led by Brandon Triche's 14.3 ppg. Fair is a close
second at 13.8 ppg and leads the team in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Southerland
missed a few games, but the team certainly welcomes back his 13.6 ppg off the
bench. Carter-Williams can fill up the basket as well at 12.5 ppg, but he is
at his best when distributing. The young point guard ranks second in the
nation in assists at 8.2 per game.

The Pirates fought back from a double-digit deficit in the second half, but
could not overcome the Scarlet Knights in a two-point loss on Tuesday. Fuquan
Edwin led the way in defeat with 18 points. Eugene Teague and Brandon Mobley
made solid contributions as well, with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Edwin has been one of the conference's most explosive scorers this season,
netting a team-high 17.0 ppg (fifth in the conference). Aaron Cosby and Teague
are also boasting of double-digit scoring averages at 12.0 and 11.2 ppg,
respectively. Teague leads the team and ranks sixth in the Big East in
rebounding at 7.4 rpg.